Lifelong Professional Learning

Audrey Steele/ ITEC 7603/ Spring 2022

Overview of Lifelong Learning
Lifelong learners are proactive and self-directed, make time for professional
development and opportunities to coach and collaborate with colleagues.

Lifelong learners need to take responsibility for their professional growth. Online
resources, professional learning networks, and social media are all ways a lifelong
learner can continue their education.

Professional development for personalized learning classroom environments

should be collaborative among teachers, on going, and connected to student data
so that teaching can be adjusted to student needs.
Resources and
Organizations for
Personalized
Learning
Edutopia

Edutopia is a great resource for

educators looking for lifelong
learning opportunities. Edutopia
provides articles covering a wide
variety of topics, including
personalized learning. During my
personalized learning classes, I
often found my information on
this site and will continue to revisit
Edutopia for my future learning.
Twitter

Twitter is a social media network that can

connect educators globally in order to learn
from one another. I have used Twitter
during my classes at KSU and it has
connected me with educators and
resources I can refer to. #PersonalizeKSU,
#edchat, and #edtech are hashtags I often
check in on to improve my teaching
practice.
Facebook Groups
Facebook Groups provide educators
opportunities to connect with others on a
global level. Facebook groups can be
created for specific topics and interests
and anyone can join. I have joined a variety
of groups to extend my knowledge on
personalized learning, technology
integration, and best practices for teaching
by specific subjects. I also like how you can
reach out to others for help and also
provide advice for those who need it.
ISTE
The International Society for
Technology in Education (ISTE)
website is a great resource for
personalized learning articles
that are helpful for continuing
knowledge and implementation
examples. This website also
offers professional development
opportunities and Open
Educational Resources (OERs)
for educators.
Participation in
Professional
Learning
Communities
Participation in Professional Learning Communities
AATE:
I have been a member of the Atlanta Area
Technology Educators since joining KSU.
This has been a great organization that
has helped me network with other
educators and become a leader at my
own school. The AATE meets monthly to
discuss best practices and tools that are
being used in classrooms around the
Atlanta area. I then share this
information with my colleagues at our
monthly curriculum meetings. I will
continue to be a member and transfer my
knowledge to others at my school.
Participation in Professional Learning Communities
Twitter:
I have used Twitter to make a
professional educational account that I
use to connect with other educators and
share my own resources and ideas for
personalized learning. I would love to
inspire more teachers at my school in
using social media as a way to
participate in professional learning
communities. Twitter has provided me
with many connections and resources
that I have transferred to my teaching.
Participation in Professional Learning Communities
PLCs at The Howard School:

At my school, I participate in the Math

Committee, Technology Steering Committee,
and Math and Science curriculum for middle
school. Being apart of these learning
communities gives me a chance to share my
knowledge of personalized learning with other
colleagues and help implement a variety of
teaching strategies into classrooms. Currently
I am working with the 8th grade teachers in
providing students choice in how they want to
demonstrate their mastery of a concept.
Promoting
Personalized
Learning
Promoting Personalized Learning
Seesaw Pioneer:
Seesaw, an online student portfolio
platform, provides educators with free
training courses through their website. I
took the first course offered and became a
Seesaw Pioneer. Now I am a point person at
my school for teachers who may need extra
help or ideas on how to use Seesaw in their
classroom. Seesaw can be used for
students to showcase their work with a
variety of multimedia tools.
Promoting Personalized Learning
BrainPOP 101 Certification:
BrainPOP is another technology tool that is
great for promoting personalized learning
and offering free professional development
for educators. BrainPOP is flexible for
student learning needs, provides a variety
of activities, and allows students to choose
their learning paths and ways of
demonstrating mastery. I took the
BrainPOP 101 course which gave me the
knowledge of the program and I can now
help other teachers at my school utilize this
tool.
Promoting Personalized Learning
IXL:
Interactive Online Learning (IXL) is a
technology tool that can help promote
personalized learning in the classroom. I use
IXL consistently with my students for math.
The program personalizes the questions the
students receive based on their answers. IXL
is a great way for me to assess students and
provides students their own learning pathway
and pace. IXL also provides professional
development for educators and families on
how to use the program.
Promoting Personalized Learning
Book Creator Certified Author:
Book Creator is a great technology tool
teachers can use to create a personalized
learning environment. Book Creator
provides students a variety of ways to show
what they have learned and can meet all
students learning needs. Book Creator also
offers educators free training sessions on
their website. I recently became certified in
the first course and can now help teachers
at my school implement Book Creator into
their classrooms.
Resources:
All4Ed. (2022). Personalized professional learning. All4Ed.
https://futureready.org/ourwork/future-ready-frameworks/personalized-professional-learni
ng/

A, Canle. (August 3, 2020). Making pd more meaningful through personalization. Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/making-pd-more-meaningful-through-personalization

A, Miller. (January 3, 2020). Creating effective professional learning communities. Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/creating-effective-professional-learning-communities

L, Rowell. (January 20, 2022). 3 keys to evolving as a lifelong learner. Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-keys-evolving-lifelong-learner